Poor, sad, lonely oil heiress Lena Epstein. First, she lost the Congressional campaign for the 11th District to Democrat Haley Stevens, turning the gerrymandered Republican seat, currently held by Republican Representative David Trott, blue. Then the Bloomfield Township Republican spent the day after the election calling GOP insiders to float her name as the next Michigan Republican Party chair – which word is, she has no chance at getting. A top Michigan Republican said, “Sh

Former Republican Senate candidate John James is not looking in the rear view mirror, according to those who have spoken to him. James, who ran against Democrat U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow as she cruised to her fourth term, may not have won, but he came closer than any of her previous opponents, with a 52 percent to 46 percent loss, having narrowed an over 20-point gap in late October/early November in a charm attack. James, who wasn’t recruited for the Senate campaign but e

TThe cost of running for office in Michigan reached an all-time high in 2018 with some of the most expensive races in the state’s history. More than $291 million was spent this year on election campaigns, including those for governor, attorney general, secretary of state, state house, supreme court and state senate. Craig Mauger with the Michigan Campaign Finance Network, who compiled totals prior to upcoming disclosure deadlines, said the total is expected to rise as more nu

Save for Representative Michael Webber (R-Rochester, Rochester Hills) of the 45th District, readers of Downtown will have all new state and congressional legislators come January. Webber will be Assistant Floor Leader in the new state House session, where Representative Lee Chatfield (R-Levering) has been named Speaker of the House. Incoming state Representative Mari Manoogian (D-Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Bloomfield Township), for the 40th District, said that she didn’t h

We’ve been hearing rumors for months – months! – that Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson was going to step down after this November’s general election, in order to appoint a successor who would be firmly in place for 2020, when the seat is up. Some we contacted are insiders who speculated it could be true, that they’ve never seen Brooks as frail or as tired as he is now, who was first elected to the post in 1992, as he was critically injured in a car accident in 201

A “blue wave” on November 6 that washed over Oakland County apparently left Republican Oakland County Commissioner Tom Berman with a red face. Berman, who lost his re-election bid for the 5th District seat (Waterford, West Bloomfield, Keego Harbor, Orchard Lake, Sylvan Lake) to Democratic challenger Kristen Nelson by less than 500 votes, took to Facebook on election night while processing the loss. “Regretfully, I got swept out by the ‘blue wave’ that decimated so many Republ